Extreme Home Makeover: Iraq Edition
Extreme Home Makeover: Iraq Edition
Yesterday’s NYT had a peculiar but fascinating story about the growth of reality television in Iraq. It turns out that while constitutional democracy is proving somewhat difficult to export, this signature facet of American Culture is thriving.
The Times piece focuses on a show called “Materials and Labor,†a home repair program run by the publisher of the respectable Azzaman newspaper, and inspired by the likes of “This Old House” and “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition.” In other words, it’s just like reality television in America! Well, except for that small Iraqi twist:
Since its start, the show has financed the repair of six homes. Two of those were destroyed by car bombs, two during the detonation of munitions by American soldiers, one by American armor and the sixth by an American airstrike.
…
[“Materials and Labor†writer Majid] Samarraie said each episode, by showing the ravages of war and the callousness of politicians, serves as a critique of the Americans and the Iraqi government.
You know your occupation is going badly when it takes a reality television show to clean up the debris.
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At least someone is doing the reconstruction in Iraq.
http://www.csmonitor.com/2005/0826/dailyUpdate.html
August 29th, 2005 at 8:46 amO&O
August 29th, 2005 at 8:54 am“The Apprentice” starring Abu Musab al- Zarquawi and Osama bin-Laden.
August 29th, 2005 at 8:58 amAlso, look for Iraq’s Regis ali-Philbin hosting “Who Wants to be a Multiple Amputee?”
August 29th, 2005 at 8:59 am“Truth or Consequences” live from Abu-Garhab Prison with your host Ali Baba Bargher.
August 29th, 2005 at 9:04 amPAT BUCHANAN’S MAG CLAIMS CHENEY PREPARING TACTICAL NUKE STRIKE ON IRAN
Now, here’s an interesting little tid-bit, considering the source: Pat Buchanan’s magazine, American Conservative, has published a report saying that Dick Cheney has had the Pentagon prepare a contingency plan for an immediate air strike on Iran, including the use of tactical nuclear weapons, in the event of “another 9/11.â€
The report, in Buchanan’s mag’s “Deep Background†column, claims: “In Washington it is hardly a secret that the same people in and around the administration who brought you Iraq are preparing to do the same for Iran. The Pentagon, acting under instructions from Vice President Dick Cheney’s office, has tasked the United States Strategic Command (STRATCOM) with drawing up a contingency plan to be employed in response to another 9/11-type terrorist attack on the United States. The plan includes a large-scale air assault on Iran employing both conventional and tactical nuclear weapons. Within Iran there are more than 450 major strategic targets, including numerous suspected nuclear-weapons-program development sites. Many of the targets are hardened or are deep underground and could not be taken out by conventional weapons, hence the nuclear option. As in the case of Iraq, the response is not conditional on Iran actually being involved in the act of terrorism directed against the United States. Several senior Air Force officers involved in the planning are reportedly appalled at the implications of what they are doing—that Iran is being set up for an unprovoked nuclear attack—but no one is prepared to damage his career by posing any objections.â€
This report is signed by one Philip Giraldi, who is identified as “a former CIA Officer, [and] a partner in Cannistraro Associates.†This makes it even more interesting — for the head of Cannistraro Associates is none other than former CIA counter-terrorism chief Vince Cannistraro (right), who was also Director for Intelligence Programs at the National Security Council under President Reagan, former Special Assistant for Intelligence in the office of the Secretary of Defense, and whose face you’ve seen a lot on TV — he’s currently a consultant to ABC News on intelligence and terrorism.
Now, I’m always mindful of the old saw that military intelligence is to intelligence as military music is to music — and the blame-shifting between Cheney and his cronies and the CIA for intelligence failures in Iraq has led to a lot of bad blood between Langley types, past and present, and the Veep’s office. But, while one wouldn’t necessarily trust the ears of Cannistraro and his cronies when it comes to sussing out matters abroad, one wouldn’t be wrong in thinking that the fact that this well-placed prominent veteran of a lifetime in the U.S. national security apparatus spent a lot of time at the highest levels of the intelligence community gives him and his subordinates access to some pretty juicy Pentagon gossip.
It will be interesting to see if some major news organization — ABC News, for example, Cannistraro’s employer — tries to run this story to ground to see if it’s true.
August 29th, 2005 at 9:07 amIt will also be interesting to see if a “progressive†website like ThinkProgress tries to run this story.Stay tuned.
There you doubters are then.
Bush was correct! Now, the Iraqis have reality TV, so $350 billion dollars in US taxpayer debt and 1,877 lives was worth it.
Will US companies begin advertising on Iraqi TV?
August 29th, 2005 at 9:16 amthey have no electricity, no running water, there is raw sewage in the streets, a civil war is breaking out,most Iraqis lost their jobs. many of them lost family members. but yeah, freedoms on the march right sheeple?
August 29th, 2005 at 9:18 amObviously, the next Survivor series should be set in Baghdad!
August 29th, 2005 at 10:25 amgovernment terror alert,
These guys are nuts and Cheney is probably the nuttiest of them all. This administration may single-handedly ruin the United States if they haven’t already done it with a war that’s already cost us more in dollars than WWI and unspeakable casualties on both sides not to mention our standing in the world. It’s reached Nazi Germany bad and it may not be long before those joint military excercises between Moscow and Beijing are put to use. I honestly fear for all of us.
August 29th, 2005 at 10:31 amReality tv is the worst.
August 29th, 2005 at 10:31 amThe Amazing Race is quality reality tv.
August 29th, 2005 at 10:39 amIt is true that Iran will be bombed, but not directly by the US. Bush and Cheney and the rest of the idiots have, or will have, paid Israel billions for their promise to level Irfan.
The first strike is set for shortly after the mid-term elections of 2006.
August 29th, 2005 at 10:43 amI heard they are putting together the next reality show….Survivor – “Fallujah”.
August 29th, 2005 at 11:04 amI’m still waiting for Iron Chef.
Each contestant gets a mix of chemicals, unexploded munitions, and washing machine timers. Best IED wins!
August 29th, 2005 at 11:36 amThree Words:
Paris Hilton, Nationbuilder.
August 29th, 2005 at 11:37 am“Junkyard Wars” would be a natural fit thanks to the bombing.
August 29th, 2005 at 12:29 pmWe won’t be seeing that show on American TV — pity.
August 29th, 2005 at 1:51 pm“The Simple Life” in Iraq:
August 29th, 2005 at 3:57 pmNo water, electricity, fuel, medicine etc.
A quintessential part of American culture used as a critique of American imperialism? Just a bit ironic..
August 30th, 2005 at 12:08 amSorry, but I think that this is so much less important than the idiot monkeyboy that lied us into a war, killed our young, committed war crimes, plunged us into unimaginable debt, and now is forcing us to pay $3.00 for a gallon of gas……………
CHIMPEACH!
August 30th, 2005 at 1:50 am